If say, you want to file an annulment based on want of understanding—meaning you weren’t quite yourself at the time of the marriage-and you married on the spur of the moment, how long someone waits to get the process started to annul a marriage in Nevada can make a difference in the outcome of your annulment. It might be difficult to get your Nevada marriage annulled using this reason if you wait five years and you’ve been living with your spouse the whole time.

That said, if you are a citizen and resident of another country and you married in Nevada a number of years ago, have not lived with your spouse, and you have someone who’s willing to sign an affidavit to that effect, you have a much better chance, even if it’s been a number of years. We have had many such Nevada annulmentsgranted.

If you married when you had all your faculties, but discovered fraud on the part of your spouse some time after the marriage, you’ll be okay filing the annulment even after a few years, provided you have proof. Three years seems to be the unofficial deadline to annul a marriage in Nevada, but we have filed many annulments for much older marriages and had them successfully granted. Of course, more proof is required here than if you file with a few months of the marriage.

If you married while you were already married to someone else, time limits go out the window, so to speak, though some judges will be reluctant to grant an annulment in this case if it’s been a long-term marriage, and there are children involved.

We’ve seen judges willing to grant a divorce in such a case, rather than an annulment even though the law clearly states that marriages entered into while married to someone else are null and void, NRS 125.290. You prove this by filing an annulment, otherwise, you’re just floating out there as a bigamist.

In other words, how long one waits to annul a marriage in Nevada depends on the personal situation of the parties filing.